Computer science major

[Pikachumonster]

I've shyed away from thinking of majoring in computer science because of the whole outsourcing stigma, but bls.gov paints a very rosy picture of software engineering (as can be seen here). What are your thoughts on this and a major in comp sci?

 

[Deeko]

I'm finishing my 4th year in comp sci. I have no regrets, although I'd recommend going to a college that pushes internships, it will help in getting your foot in the door after graduation.

 

[apac]

Don't believe everything you hear. A few of my friends just graduated and are making 55k a year at Northrop Grumman.

edit: but you only get that by busting your ass to get an internship. Coast through with less than a 3.0 average and you're SOL.

 

[amdskip]

Just graduated here, doing a job but its definately entry level.

 

[EatSpam]

Are you a citizen of India or China? If yes, then go for it. If not, brush up on your Spanish.

 

[SampSon]

I went through CS. I no longer work in the field to any degree.

 

[SirStev0]

i say nay ... but for no real reason

 

[Reckoner]

If you want to be outsourced eventually, sure!

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Pikachumonster
I've shyed away from thinking of majoring in computer science because of the whole outsourcing stigma, but bls.gov paints a very rosy picture of software engineering (as can be seen here). What are your thoughts on this and a major in comp sci?

I just got a degree in CS and I can't say that I made the right decision. Should've gone straight to business. Oh well, I've got a degree in Economics as well

 

[ballmode]

nah unless you are the top of the top

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
If you want to be outsourced eventually, sure!

Your opinions on life are as screwy as your opinions on football.

 

[Reckoner]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
If you want to be outsourced eventually, sure!

Your opinions on life are as screwy as your opinions on football.

How the hell would you know? You're still in school. Come back in 5-10 years and let's see how many times you've had to make a career change.

 

[Deeko]

I know plenty of people in the field, and no, there aren't as many jobs as there were say, 6 years ago. However, its still a huge field, with less people going into it (each year since I've been here CS has had less applicants). If you're good at what you do, have any social ability whatsoever, you'll be fine.

I'll make plenty of career changes my friend...from programmer, to lead programmer, to project manager, to VP of software...get the picture?

Deeko > PaulNEPats

 

[Savarak]

CS has done me well... Done with classes for my MS, will graduate in August so I can take on an co-op/FT. Got hooked up with like an almost perfect co-op/FT for me as it deals with all my interests including some level of tech support, mainframe, and database all combined into one job

 

[Reckoner]

Originally posted by: Deeko
I know plenty of people in the field, and no, there aren't as many jobs as there were say, 6 years ago. However, its still a huge field, with less people going into it (each year since I've been here CS has had less applicants). If you're good at what you do, have any social ability whatsoever, you'll be fine.

I'll make plenty of career changes my friend...from programmer, to lead programmer, to project manager, to VP of software...get the picture?

Deeko > PaulNEPats

Big aspirations for a small man, my friend.

 

[Deeko]

You don't get far in business without confidence and ambition.

 

[notfred]

Only if you actually enjoy CS. People going into computer science for the money are pretty much bound to fail, right now. There's not enough demand that people who don't have any interest in the subject are getting jobs. If you can't show that you've done a lot more than simply was required of you in school, you're not going to go anywhere.

However, if you're enthusiastic about the material, you work on your own side projects outside of school, and you use those to enhance your skills and show off to potential employers, you can still do pretty well.

I'm graduating this year with a CS degree, and I'm pretty confident in my abilities to do well after school, but I actually enjoy this field.

 

[sunase]

I got my first full-time software developer job in January. It took about 2 and a half months of applying to various places. I did get an offer for a more support oriented job earlier, though, and another for contract stuff. So it didn't seem difficult to me. Maybe people expect to get a lot of offers so that they can pick and choose. I admit that didn't happen.

I was only looking for low support, Java positions in my home state (NY) though. It probably would have been even easier if I had been less picky there. If you do go CS, make sure to get an internship or co-op stint. I think mine helped a lot when it came time to apply/interview. Experience seems to get a lot more respect than education in this field (maybe in any field).

Additionally, employers seemed to want people who can work with very specific technologies rather than general purpose programmers. Another surprising thing was that people actually looked at and commented on my source code samples. This was just a set of projects I had short summaries and code for on my website and mentioned/linked in my resume. So be on the lookout for some especially big or interesting projects during school that you can use to show off your coding ability later.